This disclosure builds on prior art describing a method for constructing micro-electro-mechanical systems by using multiple sacrificial thin film layers removed using a liquid etch.
It is known in the prior art to create sealed cavities on an integrated circuit for a variety of applications, for example, as a speaker or microphone. It is also known to encapsulate movable mechanical components on an integrated circuit within a sealed cavity. The encapsulation of micro-electro-mechanical structures in a sealed cavity is desirable for several reasons. First, the tolerance of the structures to ambient conditions, such as high humidity, is greatly improved. Second, the dicing and packaging of the MEMS devices is greatly facilitated. Third, when the cavity is at a low or very low ambient pressure, the Brownian noise due to the motion of gas molecules can be significantly reduced.
Processes to create sealed cavities on the surface of a silicon wafer using only thin film deposition and etching techniques have already been developed to create MEMS microphones and speakers for sound and ultrasound. Starting with a silicon substrate, which could in principle have CMOS devices and interconnects already patterned onto it, a protective layer is placed over the entire wafer. Next a sacrificial layer is deposited. Then, the sacrificial layer is patterned to remove it over all parts of the wafer that are not going to be microencapsulated. Next, an encapsulating layer is deposited over the entire wafer. Very small holes are then patterned and etched through the encapsulating layer at selected positions over the sacrificial layer, and the wafer is immersed in a liquid chemical bath containing an etchant that is highly selective, to dissolve the sacrificial layer while not attacking the encapsulating layer or the protective layer. Finally, an insulating or conducting layer that will act to seal the membrane must be deposited onto the wafer. The etch access hole can be sealed off either by material accumulating up from or by material depositing laterally on the sides of the hole growing inward and sealing off the hole. In either case, the final layer serves to both plug the etch holes and to seal the cavity created when the sacrificial material was etched away.
It is also known to create MEMS microstructures within sealed cavities such as the one described above. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,285,131 and 5,493,177 (both to Muller, et al.) in which methods to create an incandescent lamp and a vacuum tube respectively are disclosed. The method disclosed is as follows. A silicon substrate is covered with a non-etchable protective layer that is selectively removed, thereby exposing the silicon wafer in the region to be encapsulated. Then, a layer of poly-silicon is deposited and patterned to cover the exposed silicon window and extending up onto the silicon nitride protection layer in selected positions that will be used as entry points for the liquid etching agents. Non-etchable conductors are then deposited and patterned on top of both the non-etchable mask layer and on top of the silicon substrate in the window. Next, a sacrificial layer is deposited and etched so that it only covers the structures in the region to be encapsulated. The encapsulation process proceeds with the deposition of an encapsulation layer and the etching of small holes in the encapsulation layer located over the poly-silicon above the protection layer that will guide the etching agents into the cavity. In this case, the etching step requires two different liquid etchants—the first one to selectively etch away silicon and poly-silicon and a second one to etch away the sacrificial layer. The encapsulation process is completed by depositing a seal layer to seal up the etch entry holes in the diaphragms.
It is desirable to use a wet etchant, in many cases hydro-fluoric acid, because of its high degree of selectivity, that is, the ability to selectively etch away the sacrificial layers, leaving behind the microstructure and cavity walls. However, one unfortunate problem when working with a “wet” etchant is that the surface tension generated as the liquid evaporates can be strong enough to bend or even break delicate MEMS microstructures. Therefore, the use of liquid etching agents severely limits the complexity of the MEMS microstructures that can be released from sacrificial layers in the cavity because only simple MEMS microstructures can tolerate the surface tension forces exerted by typical liquid etching agents as the surface is drying. MEMS devices having suspended structures have been developed using a wet release etch. However, the structures were quite simple, for example, wires supported at both ends with a small number of meanders. However, in order to create a wide range of MEMS devices, for example, acceleration sensors, quite flexible MEMS structures are necessary. These flexible structures would most likely be destroyed by the surface tension effects of a wet etch.
It is therefore desirable to create MEMS structures with out the wet etch step, eliminating potential damage to delicate MEMS structures by the surface tension created by the wet etchant. Such a process would improve yields of the devices, thereby making their production more economical. Additionally, more complex structures could be developed.